our sad girl patron saint lana del rey's born to die is steeped in references to the novel lolita... but what is lolita? should be concerned about this 'full time daddy' and his 'pretty baby?' today we explore the connections between this classic novel and a classic sad girl <3

suggested and further reading

Amy Brambley, 'Escaping the Lolita Myth: Giving voice to the real Dolores Haze', Existential Analysis, vol. 35.1, (2024), pg. 134-135

Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett, The Feminist Politics Behind Lana Del Rey’s Sad Girl Persona (2023) [accessed 14 April 2025]

Claire Dederer, Monsters: what we do with great art by bad people (Penguin Random House, 2023)

Christopher Hitchens, Hurricane Lolita (2005) [accessed 14 April 2025]

Claire Kilroy, Claire Kilroy: ‘My moral compass has turned 180 degrees on Lolita’ (2024) [accessed 14 April 2025]

Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita (France: Olympia Press, 1955)

Kate Elizabeth Russell, My Dark Vanessa (Harper Collins, 2021)

Luke Sayers, “A brief history of the nymphet's tribulations”: The Interpretation of Obscenity in the Early Reception of Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita', Reception: Texts, Readers, Audience, History, vol. 12 (2020), pg. 5-20 [accessed April 14 2025]

Sarah Weinman, The Real Lolita (2018)

In today's (not so mini) episode we'll be looking at Charlotte Perkins Gilman's 1891 short story 'The Yellow Wallpaper,' and the dangers and benefits of what I like to call autobiographical intersectionality, or the similarities between the events of an author's life and the events in their literary works.

There are several parallels between Perkins Gilman's life and her short story, but how does this fact fit into our reading and analysis of the text? Is it beneficial to our understanding, or does it take away from the work as a piece of literature? These are the questions we'll ask in today's episode, so let's dive in! xx

Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Yellow Wallpaper (1891)

Charlotte Perkins Gilman, 'Why I Wrote The Yellow Wallpaper', The Forerunner, 1913

Diana Martin, 'The Rest Cure Revisited', American journal of Psychiatry, vol 164.5

Jessica Zhan Mei Yu, But The Girl (2023)

I want to consider where it is we find ourselves in the vast terrain of literary intrigue and legitimacy. How can we look at literature? Critically? Emotionally? Or can one not exist without the other? In this mini episode I give an overview of what inspired my thinking and how I will apply it to the texts I plan on looking at with you all! p.s. there'll be a new episode soon, I'm looking forward to it... love you all, keep reading x

What is a sad girl? Why is she sad? Why do we care? If this really is a cult, why is it so alluring? Why is it synonymous with mockery and shallowness? Is there really something deeper in this subgenre that we should be exploring?

My name's Sophie and I, like many others, have a profound love for what we call the 'sad girl novel'. With its popularity on social media, it has become, to many critics, tired and vapid. However, I believe there are wider literary and cultural implications of this subgenre that warrant reexamination. So, if you consider yourself to be a sad girl, or have any interest in the subject at all, come join me as I wade through some of my favourite titles and dissect the nature of the sad girl, and reevaluate the label's meaning, something I think is the true root of its wide appeal. Welcome, let's talk about.

Episode References:

Clark, Alex, ‘my “sad girl fans concern me”, Ottessa Moshfegh in conversation with Carmen Maria Machado (2022)

Jamison, Leslie. “The Cult of the Literary Sad Woman.” The New York Times Book Review, 2019

Manavis, Sarah, '"A smorgasbord of unlikability": the authors helping "sad girl lit" grow up.' The Guardian, 2023

Zhan Mei Yu, Jessica, I grew up loving The Bell Jar. Then I noticed how Sylvia Plath wrote about people that looked like me (2023)

Intro music:

Del Rey, Lana, 'Dealer', from Blue Banisters (Poydor Recods and Interscope Records, 2021).